The Bihar government is working at a rapid pace to promote tourism in the state and is providing support to tourism just like any other industry in the state, said Santosh Kumar Mall, IT and Tourism Secretary of Bihar.
"Tourism and hospitality are a part of the industrial promotion policy of the state. So the state government is providing all the facilities like interest subvention, electricity duty subvention, and support in registration duties to the tourism sector as well," Mall told Business Today.
He said the state government is developing Mahabodhi Convention Centre and a state guesthouse in Bodh Gaya. The projects, located next to each other, are worth more than Rs 100 crore each. A similar convention centre is coming up at Valmiki Nagar Tiger Reserve.
The state’s tourism department also plans to go big on promoting Bihar's rich cultural heritage. "In a bid to promote our destinations, very soon you will see many innovative ads and campaigns coming from the government of Bihar. We have also planned some events in Delhi, Mumbai, where there are opinion makers," he added.
Last week, Bihar received the prestigious India Today Tourism award, with Bodh Gaya in Gaya district adjudged as the runner-up in the Best Spiritual Destination category. The inauguration of Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh will provide further boost to tourism in Bihar, with destinations like Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Rajgir expected to attract more tourists from across the world.
Besides, some tourism projects in the state have also been taken up under the Centre’s ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme. One of the project under the scheme is going on at Mandar in Banka district, Mall said. “They (projects) are all basically for the development of tourism entities in the state.”
The Union Ministry of Tourism is developing infrastructure at tourist destinations across the country under its Swadesh Darshan (SD) and PRASHAD schemes. Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, 76 projects have been sanctioned across the country, including different themes such as coastal circuit, Buddhist circuit, eco circuit and spiritual circuit.
Shedding light on Bihar's tourism promotion and marketing strategy, Mall said, "We have revamped our Bihar tourism website, and our social media campaigns are running on our Twitter and Facebook and Instagram handles and the number of followers in last one year also has increased by many folds. So, we are trying to focus on the strategy to promote destinations which are not much known because there is a segment of tourists which are always looking for new things."
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